Splat-Shots
by BlueJay026
Summary: This is a series of short stories. The genres and characters will change with each story. So...yeah. Read if you're interested.
1. What if Kook and Shaiden Were Married?

**Alright, here's the first one-shot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Splatalot. If I did, I probably would of made myself a Defender.**

It had been four years ever since Kookaburra confessed to Ballista he had a crush on Shaiden. A lot had happened during those four years. During that timespan, there had been a series of interesting episodes. Kook's crush had grown, and after many failed attempts, he had gotten Shaiden to go out on a date with him. After that date, he convinced her to go out on another...and then another.

Finally, after many ups and a couple downs, a courtship, and then an engagement, Kook and Shaiden were married. And now...well, as Kook would say, "the stork was on its way."

Shaiden had been carrying the child for nine months now, and it was expected to arrive at any moment. But even then, the ninja stubbornly refused to stop defending the Kingdom of Splatalot. So today, she was defending the Stockade with Gildar and Kookaburra.

Gildar was manning the Froth Broth-Er and tossing goo grenades, and Kook and the ninja were busy sliming unfortunate Attackers. After squirting an Attacker in the back with green slime, Kookaburra watched as Shaiden poured a bucket of blue slime all over the Attacker in lavender.

"Shaiden, you know how worried I get watching you defend the castle!" he cried. "Not with Kookaburra Jr. on the way!"

The ninja rolled her eyes and looked back at the bird. "For the last time, Kook, I'm just fine! Stop worrying!" Shaiden paused. "Kookaburra Jr?"

Kook shrugged. "I couldn't think of anything else! And Kookaburra's a nice name!"

"Kook, we don't even know if it's a boy or a girl!"

Gildar tossed a goo grenade at an Attacker. "Less talking, more defending! Please!"

Shaiden left the ladders to grab another bucket of slime. She gathered one into her hands, then dumped its contents all over the red Attacker.

"Eat slime!"

"Don't overexert yourself, sweetheart!" Kookaburra called as he refilled his slime stick.

Shaiden groaned, then dashed for the Lethal Launcher. When she reached it, she turned it on and began spraying the Attackers with cold water.

"Witness the wrath of Shaiden!" she called.

"Open wide, mate!" Kook shouted, squirting a stream of slime at an unfortunate Attacker.

The Attacker wiped his face, shot the bird a look, then ran off to grab another rung. Kook laughed, then raised his slime stick over his head and started dancing.

"I'm a Defender!" he sang.

Gildar watched him perform for a moment, then turned to Shaiden.

"I still can't believe that you married _him!_"

An Attacker in blue dashed across the spinning hexagon. "Yeah, why would a ninja marry a dorky bird?" he shouted.

Kookaburra's jaw dropped indignantly. He whipped his head to the sassy Attacker. "Hey! You stay out of this, little man!"

The battle continued. After the first, second, then third flags had been taken, the two male Defenders started to sing Gildar's hit song, Gildar, You're Handsome.

"Gildar, you're handsome! Gildar, you're gorgeous! Gildar, you make my dreams come true!"

Shaiden smirked, then slimed the lavender Attacker, who was reaching for a flag. Shaiden's slime seemed to have no effect on her, so she snagged the flag and climbed up her ladder. She stood on top of the Pardoning Platform with the other three escaping Attackers: green, orange, and red. The final four contestants danced and shouted victoriously. Gildar could only watch them for a few seconds before waving his arms with disgust.

"Enough with the happy dancing! Please!"

Gildar looked over at Shaiden. She was clenching her teeth and gripping the edge of the Stockade, looking away from the Attackers.

"You see? You're even making the ninja sick!"

Kook yanked his head at Shaiden. His eyes widened with concern. He dashed over to her as the Attackers turned around to face their destiny.

"Shaiden? You alright, sweetheart?"

Kookaburra knelt down next to the ninja, who had sunk to the floor.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Shaiden took a deep breath, then looked up at the bird. "Kook, it's time."

The bird narrowed an eye. "What is?"

"It's time."

"Time for what?"

Shaiden seriously locked her eyes with Kook's. "Kook. It's time."

Kookaburra finally got the hint. "Oh...oh! Oh!"

Kook's shouting caught the viking's attention.

"What's going on?" Gildar asked, walking over to the ninja and the bird.

Kook frantically flapped his "wings." "The stork is here! The stork is here!"

Gildar's eyes widened. He stared at the ninja. "You mean you're about to-"

"YES!"

Kook started running around in circles in a panicky manner. "What are we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know!" Shaiden yelled. "I've never given birth before!"

"Alright, first, relax!" Gildar said.

The bird and the ninja looked at the viking. They obeyed and took deep breaths. Gildar flipped his hair and pointed towards the castle. "Kook, get her inside! Quick!"

The bird nodded, then rapidly yet carefully lifted his wife into his arms. As Kookaburra carried the ninja across the Stockade's purple boards, the viking turned and ran towards the courtyard, screaming for help as he did so.

"SOMEONE GET US A MEDIC!"

***

Taking Shaiden and Kook's place in the Capture the Crown round were Thorne and Skabb. Gildar had located a medic and was leading her to the ninja and the bird, so Tinkor took his place, as well.

It took only a couple minutes for the entire castle to learn what was happening. Even the Attackers knew. But they weren't nearly as excited as the Defenders. (Or excited at all, for that matter.)

The Defenders fought back hard during the third round. But even then, the green Attacker managed to make it over the Barrier of All Barriers. He leapt on top of a blue Lily Pad, then jumped onto a purple one. The Attacker then hopped for another blue one, but missed it completely.

"Did your mother teach you to jump like that?" Thorne asked, fogging the air.

The Attacker in green ignored the alchemist, then tried again. He made the jump that time, then leapt for the Water Wall. He got both elbows on the edge before falling back into the murky pool. He pulled himself up, then began climbing up the Water Wall.

Tinkor fired a splat ball at the Attacker, but to no avail. The Attacker reached the top, grabbed the crown, and became the new King of Splatalot. He raised his arms high above the air and shouted.

"WHOOOOOOO! YEAH, BABY! WHOO!"

Thorne and Skabb screamed angrily. Ballista placed her hands over her head. Knightriss shook her head scornfully, and Tinkor muttered with frustration.

"Great defending, everybody! _Really_ good job!"

The Defenders whipped around towards the Stockade. Gildar was standing on top of it, leaning over its purple railing.

"Oy, like you could of done a better job!" Thorne yelled.

"Gildar, my dear, what happened?" Knightriss inquired. "Is everything alright?"

Gildar nodded. "Yes. The delivery went well."

"Is Shaiden okay?" Thorne asked.

The viking shrugged. "She's fine, but I never knew that a ninja could scream so loud."

Thorne glanced at the side, feeling a little worried.

"What is it?" Ballista asked excitedly. "Boy or girl?"

Gildar smiled a little. "You'll have to come see for yourself!"

***

"We've got a whole brood!" Kook announced. "Ha ha!"

The Defenders had all gathered inside Shaiden's room. They surrounded Shaiden and Kookaburra to see the new "fledglings," as the bird would say. The two children were fraternal twins. One was a male, and one was a female.

"Which one came first?" Crocness asked.

"The boy, then the girl," the ninja answered.

"Aw, they're so cute!" Ballista said, smiling.

"What are their names, my dear?" Knghtriss inquired.

"We named him Midnight, and her Song," Shaiden said.

Kook glanced to the side. "I still wanted to name at least one of them Kookaburra Jr..."

Shaiden rolled her eyes. "We'll make Midnight's middle name "Kookaburra," okay?"

Kook grinned. "Sweet!" He moved his gaze to his daughter. He watched her for a moment, then looked back up at the ninja. "Then Song's middle name should be "Shaiden."

Shaiden beamed with approval. Kook looked over at the alchemist. He grinned.

"Thorne, you're an uncle, now!"

Thorne crossed his arms. "Oh joy."

Shaiden glared hardly at her brother.

"Oh, come on, don't pretend you're not excited," Ballista said, nudging the alchemist.

Thorne swayed a little.

"Yeah, Thorne, " Skabb said. "Come on, you get to help with the Defender training!"

"Tinky's excited!" Tinkor declared. "I'll teach kids how to splat! Ha ha!"

Thorne shifted his weight from one leg to the other, then sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm a little excited...maybe a bit more than a little..."

"That's the spirit, Thorny!" Kook cried, smirking.

Thorne glared at Kook. "But I still wish that my brother-in-law wasn't a bird."

**...And done.**

**If you would like to submit an idea, feel free to do so.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Broken Reflections

**This one was an earlier one-shot I had saved on my computer somewhere and sorta forgot about. Credit goes to GraphicsGirl. I got the idea after reading her first chapter of Love Under. At first, I didn't want to post this because I thought it might be too similar to hers, and it's not my best work, but I don't have much else and I wanted to ask you guys a question.**

**Please bear with me.**

There was no doubt about it. He had really done it, this time.

The Splatalot Kingdom's trickster, Kookaburra, was running frantically throughout the castle, panting and panicking. Good thing he was too terrified to stop to catch his breath, because he couldn't afford to do so. He just had to keep running.

Kook ended up running across the Stockade's Pardoning Platform. He glanced behind him to see if his angered comrade was close behind, then-

CRASH!

A swirl of green, purple, and a ton of blue rolled across the platform. Once the world was still again, Kook looked up in front of him to see Shaiden on the floor. She didn't look happy.

"S-Sorry, sweetheart," Kook stammered, stumbling to his feet.

"Kook! Watch where you're going!" the ninja growled, standing up.

Shaiden stepped forward and arched her arm back, fully intent on punching Kook's chest. But before she could, he suddenly jerked his head towards the courtyard. A look of panic sparked in his eyes.

"Shaiden, save me!" he cried desperately, hiding behind her.

The ninja pushed him off of her in an irritated manner. "Save you? From what?"

Suddenly, the Stockade's lower doors burst open. Kook hid behind Shaiden once more as Gildar stormed in.

"KOOKABURRA! GET DOWN HERE, NOW!" the viking screamed furiously, making Shaiden stumble backwards a bit.

"Whoa, Gildar!" Shaiden gasped. She turned around to look at the cowering Kook. "What did you do, this time?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Kook half-smiled weakly. Gildar whipped out his red mirror. He stared at it sadly for a moment, as if he was saying goodbye to a longtime friend, then looked darkly at Kook.

"HE BROKE MY MIRROR!" he shouted. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH MY MIRROR!"

Kook shrunk back behind Shaiden. "It wasn't my fault that the wind just happened to knock it out of my hand!"

Gildar shook his fist at Kook. "There was no wind! You climbed up the Water Wall, did some stupid dance moves, then dropped my mirror while you were spinning!"

"...Because there was a gust of wind..."

"THERE WAS NO GUST OF WIND!"

Kook cringed, then slowly advanced to the Pardoning Platform's railing. He scanned the angered viking over, trying to figure out how to get out of his predicament. He decided that he would try to "compliment" his way out of his problem. But, unfortunately, because he was a comical bird, it was in his nature to throw in a joke in almost everything he said, whether he realized it or not.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said, "your biceps now look amazing compared to your reflection."

Gildar shook violently with rage, then bolted for the Stockade's ladders. He began to lift himself up onto the platform.

"I mean, anger's not good for your face, mate!" Kook stated, dashing away towards the Capture the Crown round.

Gildar rushed past Shaiden, then chased Kookaburra all over the courtyard, shouting and screaming as he did so. Shaiden watched them for a minute, half amused and half unsure of what to do. After awhile, she just smirked, then resumed practicing her martial arts, leaving the two adversaries to work it out.

**Okay, so here's my question: I'm working on some Christmas stories, and I wanted to know if any of you had certain requests. I'm trying to finish the stories during November so I can just post them every day or so in December.**

**Okay. That's all for now.**


	3. According To Kook

"Thorne, you need a girlfriend!"

Time suddenly stood still. Thorne blinked and looked up from the red and green-armored Attacker and across at the Australian bird who had spoke.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"You need a girlfriend!" Kookaburra repeated from behind the Splatzooka, a smug smile on his face.

Thorne growled at the bird. "No, I don't need a girlfriend!"

Ballista looked over at the bird from the side of the Beastly Battle Axes. "Yeah, Kook, what are you thinking? If he had a girlfriend, they'd live unhappily ever after!"

Kook laughed, and Thorne felt a bit of anger in the pit of his stomach.

"Good one Ballista!" Kook complimented.

Thorne muttered something about dunking the bird in the moat under his breath, then turned his attention back to the Attacker, who was now making his way across the Mace Roll. Thorne slammed his hand down hard on the wall surrounding the Water Cannon when he made it perfectly across.

"Now look what you've done!" the alchemist roared.

Ballista groaned, then slimed the Attacker as he made his way done the Impossible Incline. She and Kook laughed at him when he fell into the moat. Kook looked back at Thorne as the Attacker began climbing up the Callous Column.

"Thorne, why not make Crocness your girlfriend? You two would be perfect together!"

Thorne growled. "Says the bird who danced for my sister!"

Ballista laughed, and Kook's face turned red. The bird clamped his mouth shut, then turned back to the Attacker, who was now making his way across the Beastly Battle Axes.

Kook said no more about Thorne getting a girlfriend for the rest of the round, but thye alchemist was unable to forget the bird's most recent comment. He and Crocness? Together? No, that wouldn't work...would it?

Thorne turned on the Water Cannon as the Attacker began crossing the Rope Bridge of Disaster. He cackled loudly as the Attacker fell into the murky water.

While the Attacker was busy climbing back up the second Callous Column, Thorne looked down into the moat and thoughtfully pondered the idea. He and Crocness together?

_Well...maybe._

**A/N: Hey, guys, I need some advice: should I do a Doctor Who and Splatalot crossover, a story that involves the Defenders being recruited to defend another military camp/base/castle, or something else? I need some help thinking of new material. If you could, please let me know what you think.**

**By the way, I got the "unhapilly ever after" thing from Ballista's Facebook page.**

**Alright, thanks for reading!**


	4. Operation: Chaperone

**A/N: I don't think the story plot was clear the first time I posted this, so I tweaked it a bit to see if it makes a little more sense.**

**Anyways, read on.**

_Tonight's the night._

The alchemist paced hurriedly through the Stockade. He, Skabb, and Tinkor had just finished cleaning the weapons in the courtyard, and they were now free for the day.

Thorne exited the Stockade, and soon entered the castle. He was on his way to the lab, and the warrior had asked one of his friends to meet him there.

This coming night had come as a surprise. He didn't think that his sister would actually say yes. Her answer had made Thorne seriously question her sanity. Nevertheless, she had said yes, and he had to be prepared.

Thorne made it to his lab's door. He pushed it open, stepped inside, then slammed the door shut.

"Ballista! Did you get the equipment?"

Thorne had asked Ballista for help for this night. She had been through this kind of stuff so many times before. She'd know how to deal with the situation.

The huntress turned around to the alchemist and nodded. "Yep. Binoculars and walkie-talkies." She walked over to Thorne and handed him a black walkie-talkie. "And I've got my Splatbow handy."

The huntress patted her weapon affectionately. Thorne nodded.

"Okay. Meet me next to the Defenders' Douse at 6:30 sharp."

Ballista nodded. "Got'cha."

"Don't be late," Thorne warned.

***

"Can you see them?"

"Hang on, let me adjust this..."

Ballista and Thorne were overlooking the land in front of the castle. They were hidden in the dark, watching intensely. After the huntress adjusted her binoculars a bit, she peered through them again. She nodded.

"Yes."

Thorne leaned one hand on the wall. "What are they doing?"

"Just talking."

Thorne nodded, then glanced up at the moon. The summer night was warm, but a breeze kept it from being too warm. It was a nice night.

Another minute passed.

"What are they doing now?" the alchemist asked.

"Still talking...No wait, wait..." The huntress turned to Thorne. "They're moving out."

Thorne nodded, then brought out a pair of sunglasses. He handed them to the blonde archer. "Here."

Ballista took them and put them on. In return, she placed a gray fedora hat on top of Thorne's head. "Ready?"

Thorne gripped his walkie-talkie. "Let's roll."

With that, the two Defenders set out. Unbeknownst to the Australian bird and blue ninja, Ballista and Thorne planned to follow them all night on their first date._  
_

**A/N: Go to the YTV Splatalot website and look at the pictures. There's one with Thorne wearing a fedora hat. Er, at least, I think it's a fedora hat. Anyways, it's awesome.**


	5. Introduction

**A/N: Okay, I found this 100 story writing challenge thing on a forum somewhere on this site. (I'm not exactly sure what forum it was, though.) But anyways, I decided to try it out. Basically, you write a story based on a certain word or phrase. **

**Here's a short story based on the word "introduction." Enjoy!**

Gildar sat on the ledge around the Splatzooka with a pen and journal in hand. He stared down at the blank pages and tapped the writing instrument against the composition book impatiently as a light breeze swept through his dark hair.

The viking had intended to get started on another autobiography. He had all the chapters planned out, but he had no idea how to begin. Ballista had told him that sitting outside might help stimulate some ideas. However, the advice didn't seem to be working.

Although, he had been seated by the Splatzooka for only three minutes.

Just then, he heard another one of his fellow Defenders walking near the moat. He looked up to see the British alchemist with a bucket of slime and a brush standing by the edge of the Beastly Battle Axes. Thorne knelt down and began spreading a thin film of slime over the top of the weapons, grumbling as he performed the task.

Gildar flipped his hair, then called out to his comrade. "Thorne, I'm writing an autobiography!"

Thorne growled, keeping his eyes down on the Axes. "What makes you think I care?"

The viking ignored the alchemist's comment. "I'm having trouble writing my introduction. I need to give my readers a lasting...and handsome...first impression. Have any ideas on how I should start?"

Thorne continued painting the blue slime over the Axes. He shrugged. "How about... 'I was always the stupidest Defender of the castle'?"

Gildar frowned. "Feeling a bit sassy today, are we?"

The alchemist half-smirked. The viking arched forward a bit, being careful not to lose his balance.

"Come on, I'm serious!" he cried. "I need something to let readers know how wonderful it'll be to read all about me!"

Thorne shook his head and splattered slime across the second Battle Axe in reply. Gildar straightened his arched back and took a deep breath. He looked at the moat and rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers together, then turned back to the castle's skilled alchemist.

"How does this sound: 'Gildar, the viking like no other'?"

Thorne shot him an irritated look. "Why don't you tell your unfortunate readers how annoying you are, instead?"

Gildar groaned indignantly. "Fine! Don't help me!"

The British alchemist flung slime off his gloves, stuck the brush back into the bucket, then stood up. "I gladly won't."

With that, Thorne clenched the bucket's thin handle, then walked off to the Stockade. And Gildar was once again by himself.

The viking sighed, then looked down at the sparkling green waters of the moat. He stared at it for a long time, just thinking. The Defender's mind eventually wandered back to the conversation he had with Thorne. He rolled his eyes as he thought about the surly Defender's rude comments.

Gildar flexed one of his biceps and stared at it. He shook his head and smiled, quite amazed with himself, then set his arm down. He decided that some people just don't know a masterpiece when they see one.

And then, a glorious moment later, his face lit up when he finally found the words he had been searching for.

Gildar nodded happily, clicking his pen as he did so. He looked back down at his blank journal, then placed the tip of the pen on the top line of the first page. He started to write.

_"I have always been insulted by individuals with hideous mohawks. I suppose that's the case because they're only jealous of my great looks. But really, who came blame them? It's quite hard not to envy a masterpiece like me._

_Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Gildar, the viking like no other."_

**A/N: My dad came up with the "viking like no other" statement.**


	6. Love

**A/N: This story has a more dramatic edge to it.**

It was a bright, sunny day in the Kingdom of Splatalot. Shaiden had spent the whole morning outside, practicing her ninja skills. By the time it was afternoon, she had grown thirsty, hence decided to go back inside the castle to get a drink.

The nice day put Shaiden in a good mood. There was a shadow of a smile on her face as she walked, and there was an energetic spring in her step.

Just as she reached the hallway outside the dining hall, the ninja could detect two familiar voices coming from the inside.

"Did you just ask me that?" a surly voice inquired.

"Yes," a mischievous voice replied.

_Sounds like Kook and Thorne,_ Shaiden thought to herself.

Sure enough, when she walked inside, Shaiden saw her brother and the Australian bird sitting down at the table. Thorne looked extremely annoyed, and Kook had a curious look on his face.

"I can't believe you just asked me that," Thorne growled.

"Why?" Kook asked, cocking his head.

The ninja narrowed an eye, then approached the two. "What are you two talking about?"

When the bird looked at the ninja, his face lit up. "Oh, hey, Shaiden!" He glanced at the alchemist across from him. And in a voice that reminded both Shaiden and Thorne of a dove, he said, "We're just talking about love."

The blue ninja blinked, then looked at her brother questioningly. "What?"

Thorne groaned. "Bird brain over here just asked me what love is."

"Oh..." She turned to Kook. "Why?"

The bird shrugged. "I'm only asking."

_Just to annoy Thorne, I bet,_ Shaiden thought, holding back an amused grin.

Brief pause.

"Shaiden, what do you think love is?" Kook asked.

Shaiden stared at the bird thoughtfully for a moment. She looked back at her brother.

"You know what love is," she stated.

Thorne looked at his sister with disgust. "No I don't!"

"Sure you do." A challenging gleam shone in her eyes. "I can prove it."

Thorne crossed his arms. "Yeah, right."

"You can?" Kook asked, his eyebrows raised.

Shaiden nodded. "Yes. I have a story about it."

Kook's eyes lit up. "You do?"

Shaiden nodded. After the bird shot a devilish look at the alchemist, he started jumping up and down in his seat.

"Tell it! Tell it! What does Thorny think love is?"

Thorne looked at Kook in a way that not only made the bird shut up but also shrink down deep into his chair. Shaiden smirked, then put one of her hands on an empty chair and leaned against it. She lifted her head upwards to begin.

"It was in the middle of January..."

_(Shaiden's story in flashback mode)_

_Eight-year-old Shaiden stared outside the living room window at the streets of Blackpool. Outside in the front yard, it was snowing heavily and the wind was blowing hard. Some icicles were hanging from the roof of the house._

_While the young, inexperienced ninja stared out at the winter wonderland, her twelve-year-old brother sat on the couch, watching television. He had one foot propped up on the coffee table and the other leg folded on top of it. _

_"Wow, Thorne, it's snowing really hard out there!" she declared, her eyes wide with fascination._

_Thorne snorted. __"Fantastic."_

_"I know!" Shaiden replied happily, failing to detect the sarcasm in Thorne's tone. She turned around to look at her brother. "I'm gonna go outside and play! Wanna come with me?"_

_Thorne groaned and turned up the volume on the television. "No. I hate the snow."_

_The eight-year-old frowned. "Killjoy." She paused. "What are you watching?" she asked, walking over to the couch._

_"Doctor Who."_

_Shaiden crossed her arms. "That's a dumb show."_

_"Is not!" Thorne snarled in reply._

_"Is too!"_

_"Children," their mother called from the kitchen. "Be kind to each other, please."_

_"Yes, Mum," the siblings responded in unison._

_Shaiden turned on her heels and bounded into the kitchen, where her brown-haired, brown-eyed mother was preparing dinner. Shaiden sniffed the air and realized there was turkey in the oven._

_The little ninja walked over to her mother standing by the stove. "Mum, can I-"_

_A loud bang sounded from the living room, making Shaiden blink and her mother jump. Shaiden's mother sighed and set down the wooden spoon she was holding._

_"Hang on," she said, walking away from her daughter. She peered inside the living room to see the Doctor fighting Daleks on the television screen. "__Thorne, will you turn that thing down?" she yelled._

_Her twelve-year-old son groaned, but didn't argue with her. "Yes, Mum!" he called back, pushing the volume button on the remote._

___Shaiden smirked, then looked up at the refrigerator. She observed the family photo they had taken about two years ago. She saw for the thousandth time that her father had sky-blue eyes. And for the thousandth time, she recalled the question almost everyone asked about Thorne._

___No one was sure where Thorne inherited his steel-gray eyes. There wasn't anyone else in the family with that kind of eye color. Shaiden had a theory that Thorne's eyes used to be like his father's, but his permanent bad mood had caused the blue color to drain from them._

___"What did you want to ask me, Shaiden?"_

_Shaiden looked up at her mother, who was standing back at the stove. "Mum, can I go outside? Please?"_

_"Hmm..." The British parent stirred the simmering soup thoughtfully.__"Doesn't it look a bit too windy?"_

_Shaiden shook her head. "Not for a ninja like me." After performing a few ninja moves, she looked earnestly at her mother. "Please?"_

_She laughed. "Alright. Go ahead, dear."_

_"Thanks, Mum!" the young ninja cried, running for the front door._

_When Shaiden reached the front door, she pulled on a blue wool coat, pair of black gloves, and a blue scarf. Afterwards, she flung the door open and was met with an icy, powerful gust of wind. She smiled as she shivered, then leapt outside._

_Shaiden's mother set her spoon down, then grabbed the salt shaker. As she shook a little bit of salt into the soup, she glanced at her son reclining in the living room. __"Thorne, you've been watching tv all week," she stated. "Why don't you go play outside with your sister?"_

_"No thanks," he replied, changing the channel._

_"Aw, it'll be fun!" she chimed. "Winter's a wonderful time of year!"_

_"It's the most terrible time of year," Thorne muttered under his breath._

_There was a slight pause._

_"Thorne, I want you to go outside," his mother called in a bright but more stern tone. "Right now."_

_The twelve-year-old sighed. "Fine," he said, shutting the television off._

_After tossing the remote onto the coffee table, Thorne walked through the kitchen in order to get to the front door. His mother quickly scanned her son's outfit: pants, black boots, and a sleeveless, chainmail shirt._

_"Don't forget to put on a coat," she told him._

_Thorne sighed again. When he reached the door, he grudgingly threw on his gray wool coat, then pulled the door open._

_Outside, Thorne crossed his arms and watched his sister place a few sticks in a large mound of snow, which he guessed was a snowman. Afterwards, the little ninja grabbed a longer, thicker branch, then began to strike it upon her snow creation. _

_Thorne looked down at his boots. He would occasionally glance back up to check on his sister. Only a few years ago, Shaiden had decided she wanted to become a ninja, and thus had started to teach herself the art of ninjitsu. She was actually making remarkable progress for her age. Almost enough to impress her surly brother._

_Suddenly, a ball of snow hit Thorne's right shin, making him yank his head up. His eyes narrowed dangerously at his laughing sister._

_"Did you just do that?" he asked angrily, pointing down at the new pile of snow at his feet._

_The ninja answered by chucking another snowball at his stomach. Her brother clenched his fists together._

_"Knock it off!" Thorne snapped, stepping onto the walkway._

_Shaiden smirked. A moment later, another snowball hit her twelve-year-old sibling in the face._

_"SHAIDEN!" Thorne screamed, wiping the snow from his steaming expression._

_The young ninja laughed. Thorne growled, then knelt down and made a snowball of his own. Shaiden, feeling a mixture of amusement and sudden terror, turned on her heels and ran, knowing that her brother could throw really hard._

_"Get back here!" Thorne shouted, running after her with a snowball in hand._

_"You'll have to catch me, first!" the ninja cried over her shoulder._

_Shaiden ran all over the front yard. She dashed back and forth at a high speed, making it hard for her brother to catch up with her. However, when Thorne got really angry, he had an almost unlimited amount of energy. Young Shaiden would tire out before he gave up._

_The little ninja ran to the back of the house and onwards. There was a small river just a little ways away. If she could get there, she would be able to escape her brother's wrath. She could hop across the very large stones settled in the six feet deep river, then climb the high trees on the other side. Simple._

_A minute later, Shaiden reached the first large rock beside the edge of the river. Without even thinking about the possible consequences, she placed her right boot onto the first stone. The freezing waters splashed onto her boot in response, but didn't make her hesitant to continue on._

_By the time the eight-year-old ninja made it halfway across the river, Thorne had caught up with her. He stopped near the river and panted for a few seconds, then __arched his arm back in order to chuck his snowball at the ninja._

_"You're so gonna get it, Shai-"_

_Thorne suddenly noticed that his sister was on top of the rocks in the water. He glanced at their shiny, wet surfaces, then suddenly realized that the little ninja was in serious danger._

_"Shaiden, get back here!" he cried. "You're gonna fall!"_

_It was too late. Shaiden had already slipped. The next thing she knew, she was engulfed by the dark, freezing waters._

_"SHAIDEN!" Thorne screamed._

_He ran down to the edge of the river, his gray eyes bright with fear. He quickly scanned the rushing waters. Shaiden's head suddenly bobbed from the surface. After choking and calling out for help, she fell__ back under._

_The river carried Shaiden down further. The cold wind stung Thorne's face as he dashed after her. He was so terrified that he felt the urge to cry. Shaiden couldn't swim, and images of her soaked, dead body were filling his head._

_It wasn't long until he realized that running after his sister wouldn't solve the problem. Someone would have to jump in and rescue her. And Thorne knew it would have to be him. _

_However, if he jumped in, he ran the risk of drowning, himself. Or even if he survived, he might get a horrible case of hypothermia afterwards. He cringed at the sudden images of victims with hypothermia clouding his vision. __But if he didn't jump in, Shaiden would die for sure. _

_So what did he do?_

_Without a second thought, Thorne ripped off his coat, threw it to the side, and jumped into the river. Thorne __loved his sister too much to let his regard for his own safety stop him from saving her._

_As soon as he was in, Thorne felt the icy waters stab at him. A gasp escaped from his lips, but he forced himself to harden up. He clenched his chattering teeth together and fought against the rushing waters towards his submerged sister. _

_When he reached her, he grabbed her small arms and lifted her above the water. Shaiden started gasping for air and coughing. Thorne gripped her even tighter and valiantly pulled her across the river._

_When they reached the edge of the river, Thorne lifted his sister onto the snow-covered ground, then pulled himself up. Shaiden was shivering violently. Thorne was shivering just as bad, but tried his best to hide it._

_"Y-you..." Thorne coughed few times. "You alright?"_

_Shaiden nodded, trying to be tough. She didn't like looking weak in front of anyone, especially her older brother._

_"T-Th-Thanks," she whispered._

_Thorne nodded, then straightened his wet, drooping mohawk. He looked past Shaiden, then marched to the bare trees standing about twenty feet away. He grabbed his wool coat and walked back. After ordering Shaiden to remove her sopping wet blue coat, he wrapped his gray one over her. _

_Forcing back a shiver, he put his strong hands over her shoulders. "Come on," he stated in a low tone. "Let's get you inside."_

_With that, the twelve-year-old gently yet quickly pushed his sister towards the house. Besides the sounds of their boots crunching the snow, Shaiden's teeth chattering, and Thorne's shaky breathing, they were both silent the whole time._

_By the time they reached the front door of their house, Shaiden's shivering had lessened in intensity. In fact, she was starting to feel warm again. __Thorne, however, was shivering as worse as ever. His body shook so much that Shaiden started to feel a little worried._

_Turning around, she asked, "Thorne, are you okay?"_

_Suddenly, Thorne felt dizzy. His strong grip on Shaiden's shoulders loosened. He stumbled, then collasped onto the freezing snow. His little sister gasped and knelt down besides him._

_"Thorne, what's wrong?"_

_He uttered some incoherent reply, then groaned and clenched his eyes shut. Shaiden panicked, then turned back towards the house. With a small growl, she side-kicked the door, forcing it open. After glancing back at Thorne-and seeing that he looked even worse-she tore inside._

_"MUM! HELP!"_

_(end of story)_

Shaiden was looking down at the top of her chair, a look of guilt shadowing her expression. She took a deep breath, then looked back up.

"Thorne had gotten hypothermia. And it nearly killed him."

Kook was staring wide-eyed at Shaiden, and his mouth was partly open. The two then looked over at the silent alchemist across from them. Thorne had his hands folded together on his lap and was staring down at the table. Kook could tell that he felt uncomfortable, and Shaiden could detect a faint look of dread on his face.

Thorne could remember that day more vividly than he liked. He hated that day. Not only because he got a horrible case of hypothermia, but also because he almost lost his sister. He had never been so terrified in all his life.

"He risked his life for me," Shaiden said after a long moment, turning back to Kook. "He could have let me drown. But he didn't."

Kook stared at the blue ninja for awhile, amazed. Finally, he glanced at the alchemist, stood up, then carefully approached him. A brief moment later, when Thorne realized he was standing there, he looked up at the green-haired bird.

"What?"

Kook patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. "Well done, mate."

Thorne looked a little surprised. Before he could respond, Shaiden walked over to her brother and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Kook silently stepped back.

"You're a good brother, Thorne," Shaiden said, smiling. "Thanks for rescuing me."

Thorne humbly glanced at the ground, then looked back up at his sister. He smiled. It was a very small smile, but it was still a smile. "No problem."

Kook grinned at the two siblings, somehow able to feel the strong, loving bond between the two.

After a long pause, the bird glanced at the door. He cocked his head, then turned back to the ninja. "Shaiden, can you answer another question for me?"

"What question?" she asked, looking at him.

"Can birds be cheerleaders?"

**A/N: That last comment came from Kook's Facebook page. Sorry if this story was too dramatic/cliché. Uh...yeah.**

**Important note: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)**

**Thanks to author yipyop from the Despicable Me part of this site for introducing me to hypothermia! And thanks to all you awesome readers and reviewers!**


	7. Flowers

**A/N: Has anyone else noticed that the Splat Dungeon's Twitter page and the Splatalot Facebook page seem to be supporting Kook and Faetal as a couple? My next question is: why? Is there an episode I need to check out? Am I missing something? What's going on?**

**SPLATALOT! COME BACK TO THE USA SPLATALOT! PLEASE!**

**Okay, I'm done with my ranting. Read on.**

6:00 AM. Would you get up that early? Well, if you were Skabb, Gildar, or Kook, no way. If you were Knightriss, you would arise even earlier.

In the castle, Knightriss awoke punctually at 5:00 AM. After suiting up and getting ready for the day, she headed straight for the dining hall. It was the same routine every morning.

While Knightriss was drinking a cup of coffee, Ballista entered the cafeteria. After bidding her leader "good morning" and informing her that she was heading outside to perfect her aim, she grabbed an apple and a granola bar, then left.

Now, at 6:00 AM, Knightriss was marching down to Thorne's lab. The Attackers were expected to arrive in a few more hours, and Knightriss wanted to make sure Thorne had finished creating all the slime, foam, and goo needed for the occasion. While she was still in her room, she had heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, which told her Thorne was up.

As she walked, Knightriss strategized how she would wake the sleeping Defenders. She didn't have to worry about Shaiden, Crocness, or Tinkor; those three always awoke on time. The ones she had to worry about were the viking, barbarian, and Australian bird.

Skabb was easy; if she just yelled and banged on his door, he was up. Gildar wasn't quite as easy, but she could get him up by doing the same thing. Kookaburra would be the tricky one. He had been up past 2:00 AM playing his new video game, _Ultimate_ _Dance Master._

Knightriss shook her head. She could already imagine Kook groaning that he was too tired to get up. Her frown later curved into an evil smirk when she fantasized getting him up by means of some goo grenades. Or even hot tar.

Finally, Knightriss arrived at the entrance of the lab. Without as much as a single knock, she effortlessly threw open the heavy door.

"Master Thorne!" she yelled.

Knightriss was greeted by a cold, still silence, which surprised her. She was sure that Thorne was in there. She looked around the darkly-lit lab carefully to confirm that he was absent. And he was.

Knightriss rubbed her chin thoughtfully. _Hmm..._

***

"Ballista, my dear, have you seen Thorne?"

The blonde huntress glanced at her leader as she reloaded her Splatbow. She knelt down on one knee and took careful aim at a target on a tree a good fifty feet away from her.

"I thought I saw him lurking around the dungeon earlier," she stated, adjusting the position of her weapon.

Knightriss nodded. "Ah, the Splat Dungeon. Thank you, my dear," she said, pacing away.

"No problem," Ballista replied.

A second later, a splat ball hit the surface of the maple tree, covering its target and some of the bark around it with thick, green slime. Ballista fist pumped.

"Lovely shot," Knightriss called behind her.

Five minutes later, the leader of the Defenders arrived at the dungeon. She silently sneaked inside, then carefully scanned the darkness for the castle's skilled alchemist.

She found him standing at a table with his back turned to her, working on something with his hands. It was too dark to tell what the activity was.

The knight watched him for a long moment, intrigued. He was so involved in what he was doing that Knightriss almost didn't want to disturb him.

But she did, anyways.

"Thorne!"

Thorne fumbled something in his hands and snapped his head in Knightriss' direction. He quickly knocked everything off the table, turned it on its side, then spun around and leaned against it. Knightriss stared at him, a little unsure how to deal with this strange reaction.

"Knightriss, you know I hate it when you do that!" Thorne stated, annoyed.

Brief pause.

"Thorne, what were you doing?" the knight asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The alchemist, trying to keep himself composed, casually propped one of his arms on the table's edge. He cast a glance to the ground. "Nothing important."

Knightriss raised an eyebrow questioningly. She crossed her arms and analyzed Thorne's face for a moment. She straightened up dominantly.

"Oh, so then you wouldn't mind if I came over there, would you?"

"No!" Thorne replied, a lot more defensively than he had intended. Calming himself down a little, he added, "There's nothing to see."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with me coming over there," Knightriss stated, starting forward.

"There's nothing to see!" Thorne insisted angrily, stepping a foot from the table and holding his hand out.

Knightriss rolled her eyes as she kept walking. The alchemist hopped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Oy, I said there ain't anything to see!"

In response, Knightriss pushed Thorne to the side with enough force to almost make him fall over. A second or two later, when Thorne rebalanced himself, Knightriss was next to the table, giving him a look of disapproval.

"Really, Master Thorne," she uttered, moving her gaze behind the table. "All this fuss over-"

Immediately, Knightriss' eyes widened with shock at what she saw. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing right. Thorne, who felt blood rushing to his face, could only cringe and helplessly watch as Knightriss discovered his secret activity.

The knight knelt down and carefully observed the odd items strewn across the dungeon's floor. There was wax paper, colored paper, scissors, glue, a huge, fifty pound phonebook, and the strangest thing of all: flowers. Deep violets, bright orange tiger lilies, amaranth hibiscuses, and scarlet rose petals.

_Very_ awkward pause. For Thorne, anyway.

"Thorne...have you been..." Knightriss looked up at him. "...Flower pressing?"

The alchemist's eyes sparked angrily. He stamped his foot on the ground. "How dare you accuse me of doing something joyful, Knightriss!"

Ignoring her comrade's enraged outburst, the knight carefully observed Thorne's work. Needless to say, she was completely shocked (and maybe even a little disturbed), but she was also impressed on how well the pressed flowers turned out.

"These are very pretty, Master Thorne," she commented. Looking back at him, she asked, "Have you done this before?"

"Of course not!" he hissed in reply, though the startled look on his face that had appeared for only a split second told the knight otherwise.

Knightriss then ran her eyes back over the cold floor. She cocked her head, then picked up a card beautifully and masterfully decorated with flowers.

"What's this?" she asked, opening it.

Before she even knew it happened, Thorne had snatched the card from her hands. Knightriss stared at him as he hid the card from view by putting it behind his back.

"None of your business!" he snarled, reminding his leader of a wolf with its ears defensively folded back.

Knightriss, quite curious, pressed on. "Who's it for?" She half-smiled. "Do you have some romantic interest, perhaps?"

"No!" Thorne snapped, genuinely disgusted.

Knightriss raised an eyebrow. "Then who's it for?"

Thorne stared at the floor, refusing to give his leader an answer. Knightriss watched him for a minute.

"If you don't tell me," she said impatiently, "I could always ask Ballista if she knows."

Thorne growled under his breath. He shifted his footing, then glanced at the table uncomfortably before looking at his leader. He could feel the rest of his pride draining from his soul as he started to mumble a reply.

"I...I just...well...Mum's-"

"Speak up, Thorne, I can barely hear you!" Knightriss stated.

Thorne groaned loudly. "Mum's birthday is in a few days, and I wanted to send her something, okay?!"

The British alchemist looked back at the ground. He was glad it was dark in the dungeon. He was sure that if it wasn't, Knightriss would have noticed how red his face had become.

"That's very sweet of you, my good chap," Knightriss stated.

Thorne clenched his fists together, almost destroying his mother's card. "No! It's not sweet! I am NOT sweet! It's just...I just..."

He trailed off, unable to find the right words to justify his actions. Finally, the alchemist growled with defeat, then shamefully stared at the floor.

After watching him for a moment, Knightriss set down the flower-covered papers she was holding, then stood up and marched over to the alchemist, who kept his gaze on the floor.

"There's no need to feel ashamed, Master Thorne," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with sending your mother a birthday card."

Thorne glared hardly at Knightriss, thinking she was making fun of him. She sensed this, then continued.

"I'm serious. There's no shame in letting your mother know that you care about her."

Thorne tried to shake Knightriss' hand from his shoulder, but doing so only made her grip stronger, as if it wasn't already strong enough. He defeatedly looked back at the ground.

Knightriss took a moment to think about her next words. She knew that as the leader of the Defenders, it was her job to not just yell at them, but also to build them up, point out their weaknesses and mistakes, and encourage them. Right now, Thorne could use a bit of encouragement.

"Letting your mother know that you care about her just means you're a good son," Knightriss said slowly. "It always brings joy to a mother's heart to know that her children love her. That's all she could ever want."

Thorne continued to silently stare at the ground. Knightriss patted his shoulder before locking her steel grip over it again.

"I'm very pleased with you, Master Thorne," she said, smiling. "Your mother's quite lucky to have you for a son."

Somehow, and he wasn't sure why, but Knightriss' surprisingly kind words made Thorne feel a little better. The bright red color in his cheeks began to fade away.

After a long minute, Thorne looked back up at his leader. He hesitated. "Are you planning on telling anyone about this?"

Knightriss shook her head. "Not a soul." She placed her fist against her chest. "You have my word, my dear boy."

The last remnants of stress instantly evaporated from Thorne's expression. He sighed with relief, which seemed to be his way of telling the knight "thank you."

Knightriss smiled, then let go of his shoulder. She walked back over to table, then set it upright.

"Now that we've got that out of the way," she said, "how's it coming with those slime formulas?"

Thorne approached her and started picking up the spilled items from the ground. "Got them all done last night."

"Wonderful," Knightriss replied. "Now, how would you like to help me wake Kook?"

Thorne nodded. "What do you need?"

"A bucket of hot slime would do nicely, my dear boy."

**A/N: ****If you've checked out Thorne's bio on his Facebook page, you'd understand why I had him do this "joyful hobby." Thought I'd just mess around with that. I find it kinda hard to believe he'd be doing that, though. Is there a episode that declares he does that?**


	8. Generosity

It was 7:00 AM at the Splatalot castle. Everyone in the kingdom was up and ready to splat the coming Attackers.

"KOOKABURRA! GET OUT OF BED! NOW!"

Well, almost everybody.

Knightriss was attempting to wake the Australian bird up. And by "attempting," I mean she was pounding on his bedroom door and yelling at him.

"Not now, Knightriss," moaned a quiet voice from the other side of the door.

"Kook, don't make me come in there!"

The knight received a loud groan in return.

"He's even dumber when he's half-asleep," Thorne commented.

Knightriss roughly elbowed the alchemist, reminding him to keep quiet. Thorne stifled a growl. After waiting for a moment, the knight took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'm coming in!" she shouted.

With that, Knightriss kicked the door open. She marched in with Thorne following close behind.

Kook was lying on his bed, looking as tired as ever. He was still wearing his mid-calf-length boots and the same clothes from the previous day.

"Kook! Up and out of bed!" Knightriss shouted, marching over to his side. "We've got a full day ahead of us!"

"Just five more minutes..." he mumbled back, turning over.

Knightriss put her hands on her hips. "Kook, the Attackers are coming, and you're supposed to be defending the castle today! So get up!"

The bird groaned. "Can't you just make Tinkor do it for me?"

"No!" she shouted, making the kookaburra wince a little. "Now get out of bed!"

A pause.

"I'm too tired, Knightriss," Kook quietly replied.

The knight eyed him for a moment, then drew in a sharp breath. "I don't want to have to do this to you, my boy," she said. (Actually, she did.) "But if you don't get out of bed in five seconds, then you leave me no choice."

The half-asleep bird, unaware of any danger he could possibly be in, kept his eyes shut. "Do what?"

Thorne smirked evilly. "This."

***

Around that time, Gildar was walking towards the dining hall, his red mirror in hand. He was busy staring at his reflection. He had just finished conditioning his hair and was marveling over how good it looked.

He almost dropped his mirror when he heard a pain-filled scream. After recovering from his shock, he dashed towards the direction of the yell.

He ended up running to the green Defenders' hallway. Just as he arrived, he saw Kook fly out of his room, shaking violently.

"I'M UP! I'M UP!" the kookaburra screamed. "SHEESH, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Thorne and Knightriss exited the bird's room shortly afterwards, laughing. Thorne, holding a bucket in one arm, high-fived Knightriss with his free hand. Kook looked at the two angrily and clenched his fists together.

Gildar, still standing at the entrance of the hall, noticed blue slime dripping off of Kook's green hair and feathers.

"Let that be a lesson to you," Knightriss said chidingly, crossing her arms. "Get up as soon as I say so." She tilted her head towards the end of the hall. "Now go clean up."

"Yes, Knightriss," Kook grudgingly replied, looking at the ground.

The knight flashed him an arrogant smile, then began to march away. Thorne erased the smirk on his face, then walked after Knightriss out of the hall. As soon as those two were gone, the viking ran over to the bird.

"Kook, what just happened?" he asked, concern outlining his tone.

Kookaburra groaned and flung some slime off his "wings", making Gildar take a cautious step backwards.

"Knightriss and Thorne just dumped scalding hot slime all over me just because I didn't get up early enough!" the bird explained, a frustrated edge in his voice.

Gildar scanned Kookaburra carefully. He cringed at the sight of Kook's tarnished feathers. Seeing Kook look so upset and messy made the viking feel a little sorry for him. He even felt moved to help him out.

Putting a kind hand on Kookaburra's shoulder, he asked, "Want to borrow my shampoo?"

**A/N: So...what'd you think? By the way, I put up a new poll on my profile page. So far, it's a three-way tie. I need someone to be the tiebreaker or something.**

**GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT! I found the first episode of Splatalot Season 2 (Celebrity Splatdown) on Youtube somewhere! Thank you Lord Jesus! Look it up if you haven't already!**


	9. Triangle

Gildar traded his thin red binder for a thick black one. The teenage viking then effortlessly pulled out a huge book from the small metal chamber and slapped it on top of his binder. The title of the large textbook made him grimace, so he turned to look at the magnetic mirror attached to his locker's dull gray door. His frown vanished instantly.

The young viking flipped his hair proudly. He wished that he could stare at his handsome reflection for awhile, but he had only five minutes to get to class; he had to get going. After giving himself an encouraging look, Gildar slammed his locker door shut.

Just as he unzipped his backpack, something caught the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw his fellow Defender-in-training walking down the hall, busy texting. Intending to impress her, Gildar quickly stuffed his academic items into his backpack, slung it over one shoulder, then leaned back against the lockers. He smiled as the blond teenager walked by.

"Hello, Ballista," he said, obviously yet subtly flexing one of his biceps.

"Goodbye, Gildar," the sixteen-year-old replied without looking up from her phone.

Gildar blinked as she strutted away, slightly surprised by her indifference. A moment later, he just shrugged it off, then looked down at his bicep. He smiled to himself, amazed, then quickly headed off to class.

The young viking frowned as he walked nearer and nearer to Room 10. His backpack seemed to become heavier and heavier by the footstep. He hated this period. What class was in store for him? In his opinion, it was the worst one of all: geometry.

The young viking hated geometry, for two main reasons. The first reason was that it didn't make any sense; if everyone already knew that a triangle was congruent to another triangle, then what was the point of proving it?

The other reason was much more serious than the first. It was the number one reason why Gildar hated geometry. He absolutely abhorred that class because of the side-angle-side postulate.

Why?

It was better known as SAS.


	10. Through the Fire

"But Ballista, I don't want to go to the mall!"

The huntress groaned in reply as she dragged the whining green-haired bird across the parking lot. "I'm not happy about bringing you either, but we have no choice."

"Can't we just go somewhere else?" Kookaburra pleaded.

"No!" she snapped, her blue-gray eyes narrowing viciously at the bird. "This is my shopping day, and I'm not letting you ruin it!"

"But the mall's so boring!" Kookaburra complained, weakly tugging back on his clenched hand.

Ballista harshly jerked Kookaburra forward, making him wince. "Too bad! I wasn't the idiot who almost burned off Thorne's mohawk!"

Kook made no verbal reply, but glanced down at the ground as the day's previous events replayed in his head.

_"Thorne? Thorny?"_

_Kook knocked on the lab's door again. "Thorne, you in there? Tinkor wanted you to come down to the Techni-Cave!"_

_The bird waited patiently for a response. When he received nothing, he cautiously pressed his ear against the cold door and listened. He couldn't detect any usual noises of bubbling, steaming, or complaining._

_Thinking that Thorne was just ignoring him, or perhaps even playing a game of ninja hide-and-seek with his sister, Kook decided to open the door. He clasped the stained, metal handle with one hand and pushed against the metallic door with the other. With a small groan, the bird gradually shoved the heavy door open._

_The green-haired bird poked his head through the doorway of the shadowy lab, then quietly stepped inside. "Thorne?"_

_As the door shut behind him, blocking out even more light, Kook realized that Thorne wasn't in there. Normally, the kookaburra would have left without a second thought, but something had already caught his curious eye. Sitting on the counter a little ways across from him was a beaker filled with illuminating green slime._

_Kook's eyes widened in ecstasy and wonder as he rushed over to the eerie mixture. He set his face right in front of the glass and stared. The soft green glow sent a chill of excitement up his spine._

_"Whoa..."_

_As Kookaburra continued to gaze at Thorne's latest creation, he pondered upon what the new slime felt like. So, being Kook, he unwaveringly surged his right index finger into it. Another chill of excitement ran up his spine as his submerged finger tingled, making him laugh lightly._

_"This is so cool!" he whispered quite loudly._

_A minute later, the bird brought his finger out of the slime, then wiped it across his long glove. His smile widened even more when the mixture radiated his covered forearm and made the silver rings hanging from his glove glimmer._

_"I can't wait to use this on the course," he stated happily._

_A moment afterwards, Kook decided that he should probably start heading out. He took one last admiring look at the glowing slime, then turned around. The kookaburra immediately froze. He hadn't realized how dark it really was in the lab._

_Kook gulped. Thorne's lab was really creepy when all he could see was pitch-black nothingness. When his mind was no longer paralyzed with fear, he began to inquire to himself how he would get out of the ghastly lab._

_The Australian bird looked back at the slime for a minute. He could use that as a lantern to find his way back to the door. However, Thorne would probably notice if the slime went messing, so he better not._

_Kook thought about his predicament for a minute longer. His tensed body quickly relaxed when he figured out what to do. He lifted his hand up and "finger-snapped" some flames. The bird laughed, pleased with himself for solving his problem, then snapped more flames. It was then that the Australian Defender discovered a very interesting device standing at the edge of the counter: Thorne's blowtorch._

_To no one's surprise, Thorne never let Kookaburra use his blowtorch. No matter how many times or how annoyingly he pleaded, the alchemist would not, under any circumstances, the bird him play with it._

_Well, Thorne wasn't in the lab at the moment, so..._

_Without even thinking, Kookaburra wrapped his hands around the mini flamethrower. He flicked it on, and a bright, orange flame blazed from the tip. The mischievous bird then proceeded to mess around with it by waving the dangerous tool in the air._

_He was so occupied with the torch that he didn't notice another source of light streaming into the lab._

_After Kookaburra traced the flame over an imaginary "K", he backed up a little to start dancing. He did a series of movements with his arms, spun around, hoisted the torch up to his eyelevel-_

_-and found the flame lighting up Thorne's fuming expression._

_"AAAAHHHH!" Kook screamed, fumbling the blowtorch and scrambling up onto the counter._

_Thorne glared fiercely at the terrified kookaburra. Though he was really angry, he graciously allowed the Australian Defender to catch his breath._

_"Oh, mate," Kook panted, "you scared me, you really scared me..."_

_Thorne's gray eyes darkened as he stepped forward. "What are you doing in here?!"_

_"Uh..." Kook glanced down at the tool in his hands, then nervously flicked it off. "...Nothing..."_

_Thorne pointed at the door. "Get out."_

_Kookaburra hopped off the counter without question. As he started to march away, Thorne blocked his path and motioned for him to hand back his blowtorch._

_"Give it to me."_

_When Kook showed slight hesitation, Thorne threateningly slapped his strong hands over the already scared bird's shoulders and shook him a little._

_"I SAID GIVE IT TO ME!"_

_Kook jumped and yelped in fear as he involuntarily squeeze the torch's handle. And, unfortunately for Thorne, his mohawk was right in the way of new flame's path._

_Kookaburra's jaw dropped just as Thorne figured out his hair was on fire. Thorne cried out in surprise and faint terror, then darted for his sink. When he reached it, he rapidly turned the faucet on and shoved his entire head under the cool, rushing water._

_After the fire had been put out, Thorne yanked his head from under the spout, shut the water off, and began taking deep breaths to calm himself down. As the British Defender's heart rate returned to normal, his gaze caught onto his reflection in the sink's reflective spout. He tipped his head down to observe his mohawk. It was a little charred, but otherwise okay._

_Perhaps allowing Gildar to put a small amount of inflammable blue gel in his mohawk earlier that morning wasn't such a bad idea after all._

_The alchemist noticed that most of the blue color around his left eye was streaming down his cheek and dripping off the side of his chin. He ran his hand over his face, then stared at all the dark blue paint covering his gloved fingers._

_Kook had his hand slapped over his mouth in suspense as he stared at the dripping-wet alchemist, extremely fearful as to what would happen next. But even that couldn't hold back the incoming laughter forcing its way up to his mouth._

_Unable to control himself any longer, Kookaburra finally doubled over and let out one of the most obnoxious, uncontrollable laughing fits Thorne had ever seen. The bird laughed so hard that tears began running down his amused face._

_It took only another look at the alchemist to make Kook immediately regret what he had just done. Thorne was shaking in fury and his eyes were blazing brightly, as if his steely irises were melting. His teeth flashed in the light seeping through the door as he snarled, reminding Kook of a venomous viper. Thorne threw his hands off the edge of the sink and ran straight for the bird._

_"YOU ARE SO DEAD!"_

_Kookaburra hopped out of the way just in time, then ran out of the lab screaming with the enraged British Defender hot on his heels._

_"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU GREEN-HAIRED FREAK!"_

***

_Knightriss was running in the direction of the bird's yelling, Skabb, Gildar, and Shaiden following close behind. The leader quickened her pace when the terrified shouting was abruptly shut off. She turned a corner and found Kookaburra on the floor with Thorne on his back, constricting his neck and twisting his right arm._

_It took both Gildar and Skabb to pull Thorne off of the poor bird. While the blue ninja attempted to calm down her infuriated brother, Knightriss made Kook explain to her why Thorne was so angry._

_Shaiden had managed to calm her brother a little bit just as Kook finished telling the whole story._

_"...And then he tried to murder me!" the tramautized bird declared, pointing an accusing finger at the alchemist._

_In response, Thorne roared and started forward, making Kook leap behind Knightriss. Shaiden quickly gripped her brother's shoulder and pulled him back. _

_"Thorne, deep breaths," she reminded him._

_The alchemist lowered his head as he did what she had commanded him. Kook smiled uncomfortably when the ninja shot him an icy look. Eventually, Thorne, still breathing deeply, looked back up. He was still angry, but this time didn't attempt to kill Kook in any way._

_"I see," the knight muttered, rubbing her chin._

_After a brief pause, Kook looked at Thorne - then quickly ripped his gaze from the alchemist's face when he saw that the murderous glaze in his steely eyes had not yet left._

_Just then, the kilted huntress stopped by the hall. She looked directly at the knight, completely ignoring the commotion taking place around her._

_"Knightriss, I'm going to the mall," she announced. "I'll be back in a few hours."_

_She began to strut away._

"Ballista, my dear, wait a minute!" 

_The huntress quickly arrested her feet and stared back at her leader "Hmm?"_

_Knightriss gave the Australian kookaburra a scornful look, then turned back to the kilted archer. "You're taking him with you."_

Kook was roughly thrust back into the present.

"Hurry up!" Ballista ordered. "Quit dragging your feet!"

The green-haired bird groaned and grudgingly did as he was told. If he had known going to the mall with the blonde archer would be his punishment for snooping around and then accidentally lighting Thorne's hair on fire, he never would have even stepped foot inside the hall with the lab.

Well...then again, perhaps he still would have.

The sprightly kookaburra smiled to himself. He had to admit that despite all the trouble he had gotten himself into, the whole thing had still been pretty funny. He decided that this torment was worth seeing Thorne being put "through the fire."


	11. Gray

The feeling of this November, "Defender School" day matched the color of Thorne's eyes perfectly: bleak, stormy, steely, and cold. If one said that the young alchemist was having a bad day, that would just be an understatement. He was having an _abhorrent_ day.

First off, Thorne was late for his first class of the day, biology, so he was marked tardy. That wouldn't have been too bad, except that that was his third one for the second quarter. Now he was expected to show up in detention after school.

In splat class, one of the "jocks", named Rick, had purposely shot goo in the British alchemist's face. After everyone laughed at him, the instructor not only threatened to send fuming Thorne to the principal's office for attempting to punch Rick's face, he also congratulated the jock for making "such a good shot."

During history class, where students learn all about weapons, castles, and their backstories, the young adults got their most recent test back. Thorne, well...his grade wasn't too good. To make matters even worse, the teacher had embarrassed him by loudly announcing to everyone that his test grade was the lowest one in the whole class.

For awhile, British literature class went okay. At least, until the instructor asked Thorne why he couldn't be more like his overachieving sister. The young Defender growled in reply, then continued reading what had just been assigned: Chapter 30 of Pride and Prejudice.

Shaiden was four years younger than him, but she was still at the same senior level as he was. Just because she always did _everything_ right. And the ninja was even marked absent everyday!

Don't get Thorne wrong; he just didn't like being compared to his little sister, and then told that she was a better Defender-in-training than he was.

Things didn't get any better at lunch. While the group of the nine in-training Splatalot Defenders were eating, Kookaburra accidentally spilled his soda all over Thorne's calculus homework, which had taken him half the previous night to complete. Good thing Knightriss was there, or else the Australian bird would have lost both his wings for sure.

After lunch was gym class. The game of the day was dodge ball. Let's just say Thorne didn't have a good time in there, either.

Thorne was out of the gym as soon as the bell rang. He paced quickly through the halls covered with steel lockers, sulking at the ground. Keeping his face out of sight, he stopped at his locker, #117, put in the combination, and threw the door open.

The young Defender-in-training dug through his backpack and took out his test from history class. His final grade? D+. He hadn't been able to study because he was too busy doing calculus homework.

Thorne growled, partly at his final grade and partly at the memory of Kook ruining his math homework. He crumpled his test up and tossed it into his locker.

"Hey, Thorne," a young female voice chimed behind him.

The alchemist grunted in reply as he shoved his history binder besides his biology one. "Hey."

The blue ninja surveyed her brother carefully. Shaiden knew that Thorne was in a bad mood, but she wasn't exactly sure how bad it was at the moment.

She hesitated. "You took quite a hit in dodge ball today. That looked like it hurt a little bit."

Thorne growled, then turned around to face his sister, who took a step back.

"Does this look like it 'hurts a little bit' to you?!" he hissed, pointing to the large, dark bruise engulfing his right eye.

Shaiden's mouth was partly open as she cautiously scanned Thorne's wound. Reluctantly, she answered, "It's not too bad, Thorne. It looks, uh...kinda...cool...?"

"Oh, yeah?" Thorne seethed. "Why don't you get one, then?"

With that, the ninja's brother slammed his locker door shut, denting it in the process, then hurriedly paced away. Sixteen-year-old Shaiden kept her eyes on him until he disappeared from the hall. She sighed, then silently headed off to her next class.

Calculus was up next. And, as you can imagine, Thorne had to explain to his teacher what happened to his homework. Much to Thorne's frustration, the math teacher told him that if he made his work up, he would give him half credit. The young alchemist just muttered "forget it" under his breath and decided it wasn't worth doing the whole assignment over again.

The last class of the day was Thorne's favorite one: chemistry. It was his strongest subject; in fact, he was at the top of the class. And even better, the chemistry teacher wasn't one of those "be happy" people. Almost the opposite, actually.

However, when Thorne walked through the lab's doorway, he saw that there was a substitute teacher. He immediately realized that this period wouldn't be much better than the other ones when she smiled at him.

The sub was a very happy and enthusiastic person, much to Thorne's distaste. All throughout the period, she kept encouraging the young Defender to smile. Eventually, the rest of the class was pressuring and teasing him to do it, as well. Thorne sourly refused and grudgingly looked down at his chemistry book.

Finally, the bell rang. Thorne sighed in relief as he walked out the door, then remembered he had detention that afternoon. He groaned loudly, then stomped off to his locker. Why wouldn't this day end already?

Could things get any worse?

Yes, they could. The substitute chemistry teacher was hosting detention, so he'd be stuck with her for another hour.

* * *

"Thorne!"

The said young adult glanced over his shoulder to see Gildar running over to him.

_Great,_ Thorne thought angrily, shoving his binders into his backpack.

The young viking soon reached the British Defender-in-training. "Hey, Thorne, we're all going to see that new movie: Seeing Nothing But Red. Wanna come?"

Thorne slammed the dented locker door shut. "No." He slung his gray and blue backpack over one shoulder and began to pace away.

"But it's a horror sci-fi film," the viking exclaimed, following him, "and I heard that the ending's really sad. You'd love it!"

Thorne growled and walked even faster. "I can't."

The viking narrowed an eye. "Why not?"

"Because I have detention," Thorne stated through clenched teeth.

Girldar groaned sympathetically. "Ah, Thorne, I'm so sorry."

Thorne abruptly arrested his feet and whirled his bruised face to the viking. "Yeah, you should be! It's all your fault! If you hadn't begged me to grab you a stupid shampoo bottle on the way to school, I wouldn't be stuck in detention with Little Miss Happy! This was the worst day of my life and you were the first thing that made it that way!"

After he finished ranting, Thorne looked at the ground and began taking deep breaths. As soon as he calmed himself down, he put his gaze back on Gildar. The young alchemist's hard gray eyes softened slightly when he noticed the viking looked a little hurt.

A moment later, Gildar's eyes sparked, as if he suddenly got an idea. "Little Miss Happy? You mean Miss McGraw?"

"Yeah, whatever her name was," Thorne replied, letting out a deep breath.

Gildar flipped his hair confidently and smiled. "I can get you out."

Despite the huge load on his back, Thorne straightened up. He narrowed one eye questioningly. "How?"

Gildar's smile turned into a smirk. "I'll show you. Follow me."

* * *

The door to the detention room swung open. Thorne, who was leaning against the wall, locked his eyes on the exiting Gildar.

The viking smiled as he shut the door. "All taken care of."

Thorne's gray eyes lit up a bit. "I'm out?"

Gildar nodded.

Thorne's jaw was on the verge of dropping. "How?"

The vain viking pointed to his face. "All it took was this award-winning smile, these sparkling eyes, and a flip of my gorgeous hair."

The British alchemist pushed away the urge to roll his eyes. A moment later, he shifted his gaze to the door before looking down at his boots. He took a deep breath, then humbly lifted his head to look back at the viking. "Thanks."

Gildar patted Thorne's shoulder. "Anytime. Now come on, the others are waiting outside! Let's get going!"

The viking then led the way outside, Thorne right at his heels. The duo found the other seven Splatalot Defenders-in-training next to Skabb's car, getting ready to pile in.

As they neared the barbarian's "possibly borrowed" car, Thorne took a quick glance around him. The asphalt was wet and covered with puddles, and the air smelled clean. It must have rained earlier. Looking up, he noticed that the sky didn't seem as gray as before.

Thorne was the last to climb into the van. He found a seat between Shaiden and Kook just as Ballista shut the door.

Right after he sat down, Shaiden looked over the green-haired bird. "Thorne, I think Kookaburra has something he needs to say to you."

The ninja's brother moved his gaze to Kook, who was rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about yer math homework, mate. Um...is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Thorne paused in thought. "Get me a large soda when we get to the theater and...maybe...I'll forgive you."

Kook smiled. "Deal!" He sighed in relief. "I thought you were gonna ask me to do your next homework assignment for you! All that math stuff looked really hard!"

Thorne scowled. "It was." Taking a deep breath, he added, "Don't worry about that; I would never ask you to do my homework."

Ballista smirked. "Yeah, that's because he doesn't need Kook dropping his GPA down to a negative number."


	12. Vacation

**Quick Vocab: Tessen = a Japanese war fan  
**

* * *

Kookaburra was perched on top of the railing of the Stockade, loading a goo grenade into his beloved Sling-Splatter. He glanced behind him at the courtyard, hoping that someone would come by so he could splat him or her. But the odds were against him on this blazing summer day; the rest of the Defenders were inside, trying to avoid the intense heat.

The bird wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. Though he enjoyed the warm sunshine, the day was a little too hot for him. It was a surprise that his nest had not caught on fire yet. Kook looked back at the Crown of Splatalot, shimmering from the very top of the Water Wall. He had a slight desire for the Attackers to visit, but they were all at home, probably swimming in their "non-alligator-infested" pools.

Sighing loudly, Kookaburra tossed his weapon aside, tightened his legs around the purple wood, and fell backwards. He hung limply in the air as he stared out at the courtyard, wishing he had something fun to do.

"I'm so BORED," he moaned, closing his eyes.

For a moment, all that responded was silence. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came the sound of heavy footsteps crossing the pavement. When the bird opened his eyes, Knightriss was standing there.

"Kookaburra, my dear, what are you doing?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing! That's why I'm so BORED, duh!"

The leader of the Defenders pointed her thumb towards the castle. "Well, quit your complaining and get inside at once! I have an important announcement to make!"

Kook altered his voice to a mocking, slightly high-pitched tone. "Is it about how hot it is, how the alligators are not sharing the moat, and that the air conditioner is broken? I already know all that, thanks."

The knight glared at him as if she was deciding whether or not to snap the bird's neck. When her tense stance relaxed, Kook figured she had chosen to show him mercy. "Maybe I should leave you behind," she murmered thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.

Immediately interested, the kookaburra cocked his head. "Huh? Leave me behind from what?"

Knightriss grinned. "We're going on a vacation, my boy!"

Kook's frown turned upwards into a bright smile. "Sweet! Where are we going?"

"We're heading to the seaside!"

Kook swung himself on top of the railing, swept up his Sling-Splatter and goo grenade, leapt from the Stockade, then landed on his feet. "I'm there!"

He flew for the castle, Knightriss running close behind. When they entered, Knightriss led her kooky friend to the dining hall, where everyone else was already waiting.

The large table was lined with glasses and pitchers of room-temperature water, which was almost gone. Most of the Defenders of Splatalot looked miserable. For instance, Gildar was half-heartedly adjusting his damp hair as he stared at his reflection; Shaiden was fanning herself with her tessen as she absentmindedly drew sloppy circles on the wood with her finger; Thorne looked more angry than usual.

In general, everyone seemed more dead than alive.

Kook took a seat next to where Knightriss stood. After casting a quick glance at each of her fellow Defenders, she clapped her hands together. "Defenders, pack your bags! We're going on a trip!"

Immediately, the residents of the castle came back to life. Their eyes brightened as they looked at Knightriss and then at each other with anticipation.

"We're heading to the Atlantic coast!" Knightriss continued. "I think that we've been working hard all summer and that we need a break! We'll be at the seaside for two weeks!"

While everyone else chattered with excitement, Thorne raised a gloved hand. "Hold up! Who's gonna keep an eye on the castle while we're gone?"

"Not to worry, dear boy!" Knightriss replied. "I've hired three interns to watch our kingdom while we're away. They'll arrive in the morning before we head out."

"Oh great, three new kids watching someone else's castle," the alchemist replied sarcastically. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"One of the interns happens to be my younger sister. She promised she'll make sure everything's in tip-top shape from the time we leave to the time we get back."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

Knightriss gave him a look, then turned to the clever inventor of the group. "Tinkor, I want that air conditioner fixed as soon as possible."

Though he had been working on the task all morning, the news about going on vacation kept Tinkor from sighing with exhaustion. He put on an ecstatic grin an nodded vigorously. "Yes, Knightriss!" With that, he positioned his goggles over his eyes and quickly left the table. At the entryway of the room, he paused, then turned around. "Just out of curiosity, who's driving?"

"Don't let Gildar drive!" Ballista declared. "We'll end up following an oil tank across the country so he can watch himself driving."

Gildar put his mirror down, revealing the indignant look on his face. "Alright, that was one time!"

Shaiden pushed her chair back and stood. "I'll go get ready right now!" she announced happily. "I need to polish my Splatana!" She threw her tessen, which flew over Kook's head, causing him to yelp. The ninja beat the weapon to the open doors of the room, caught it, then disappeared into the corridor seconds later.

Skabb deviously smiled at the bird. "What kind of scream was that?"

While the barbarian and a few others laughed at him, Kook felt an evil grin tug at his face. Without warning, the bird whipped out his weapon and shot Skabb with the goo grenade he had saved. After letting out a long, obnoxious laugh, Kookaburra leapt out of his chair and fled for his life as a furious Skabb chased after him.

Once the two had exited the room, the leader of the Defenders smirked, then cupped her hands around her mouth. She raised her voice as everyone stood up to prepare for the trip.

"We leave tomorrow morning at nine o' clock! I want everyone packed and ready to go at eight fifty! We're going to have some fun!"

"How wonderful," Thorne muttered, crossing his arms.

Knightriss glowered at him. In a voice even louder than before, she replied, "We're going to have some fun, whether you like it or not!"


End file.
